“The Fan Morning Show” caught up with former NHL referee Kerry Fraser on Thursday to talk about some of these controversial plays. Kerry said that the officials acknowledge a difference between how they call things in the postseason as compared to the regular season, but that it can’t go too far.

“What concerns me, and I don’t blame the officials so much as the people that are responsible for coaching them, for holding them accountable,” said Fraser. “Going into the playoffs, they need to be told, ‘Listen guys, we’re not changing the rule books. We need you to call a standard.’ And they have to be held accountable throughout every game during the season, the players need to know what they can do and what they can’t do.”

“Consequently, there have been very loose standards and it’s called playoff hockey refereeing. It’s not acceptable.”

“There’s always a debate, what’s the difference between regular season and playoffs? Well, I think a rule is a rule and should be called from the start of the season to the very last game of the Stanley Cup Final. But that’s not the way it’s been. We’ve seen an awful lot of stuff that’s been let go.”

Friday night’s goaltender interference review, deciding a pivotal playoff game, was the NHL’s train wreck waiting to happen. For the Oilers, it was the second controversial goal that went the other way in as many games in the second-round.

Could you imagine what the blowback would be if one of those calls were to decide the Stanley Cup?

No changes will come between now and the end of these playoffs, but video review looms among the biggest challenges facing the NHL heading into the offseason.

So, how can the NHL fix goaltender interference?

It can start by better defining goaltender interference. Chiarelli admitted Saturday that only a “general framework” exists.

“We have our own way of interpreting it, too,” Chiarelli said. “In our minds, we tweak it a little bit. If we look at last night, I see two points of interference. One was caused by our own player pushing their player in, the other was caused by their player in my mind. It was a difference in opinions.”

National Hockey League linesman Don Henderson has filed a $10.25 million lawsuit against Calgary Flames defenceman Dennis Wideman more than a year after Wideman hit Henderson from behind during a game against the Nashville Predators.

CTV News and TSN have learned that Henderson filed his lawsuit against Wideman on Apr. 18 in a Calgary court.

Henderson seeks general damages of $200,000, special damages to pay for housekeeping, yard work and hospital expenses of $50,000, and damages for loss of income and future loss of income of $10 million.

The Flames are also listed as a defendant.

According to his lawsuit, Henderson suffered injuries to his head, neck back, shoulder, and right knee. He also allegedly suffered a concussion, pain, numbness and tingling in his right arm and hand, shock anxiety and depression, headaches and permanent and partial disability.

Talking to a number of NHL types over the last week about Crosby’s unpenalized slash brought mixed reaction. From, “That’s a penalty and we don’t call it often enough,” to “It’s always been in the game and we shouldn’t take it out,” there has been all manner of comment.

The fact there is no consensus suggests nothing will change soon. A movement from the GMs is the best way for the NHL’s hockey people to get behind an issue and enact change. That hasn’t happened.

Just because a critical mass of GMs haven’t spoken up on the subject, however, doesn’t diminish the reality.

They were slow to come around on obstruction as well and for good reason. They get paid to win games and defence is easier to acquire than offence. So the lowest common denominator wins out.

So regardless of a lack of outcry from many of the game’s stewards, it’s clear from watching NHL games that the threshold for calls to be made on slashes to the gloves is too high.

When a player puts his stick on an opponent’s gloves, it’s a penalty. But, as often happens in the NHL, players push the boundaries of a rule and the standard shifts. Watch an NHL game today and you’ll see a lot of stick-on-glove work.

Chris Schlenker’s welcome to the big time was a bolt of lightning — totally unexpected.

Following the play up ice during a Nov. 18 game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., the 32-year-old first-year NHL referee from Medicine Hat, Alta., suddenly felt himself swept off his feet before coming down hard and painfully on his back.

What he didn’t know was the NHL’s biggest star and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins had roared past, too closely in fact, and one of his skates took Schlenker’s feet out from under him.

"I got slew-footed by Sidney Crosby — accidentally," says Schlenker. "I popped back up. My partners were looking at me to see if I was OK. I got quickly back in the play like nothing happened. I got up, didn’t know who it was or what even happened. I didn’t see him coming. The next whistle, the guys came to check on me, I said, ‘Let’s keep going, I’m fine.’

"The next TV timeout, Sid comes across the ice and says, ‘Sorry about the slew-foot.’ I said, ‘No problem.’ He said, ‘I didn’t mean to do it.’ I said, ‘I know you didn’t.’"

Maintaining your cool is important in the officiating business and Schlenker, one of the rising stars on the NHL scene, is very good at it.

For what it’s worth, and it’s not much, I didn't like the Malkin hit on Wheeler. I like to think I like hitting in hockey as much as anyone, but Malkin's hit struck me as unnecessary. The puck was gone. Outside of fulfilling the time-worn “finish your check” mantra or protecting the sky-is-falling chorus of “there's going to be no hitting in the game,” I'm not sure what purpose Malkin's hit served, especially weighed against the contact to Wheeler's head.

But I have also come to realize everyone's threshold for this type of hit is different, and if the GMs on opposite sides of the debate haven't figured it out yet, I don't like our chances for resolving it here today.

I get that Jets fans are angry, and I wouldn't want to be dismissive of them, though let's be honest: How many of them would be outraged if it had been Wheeler who hit Malkin in that fashion?